Guest guest Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 Veganism Can End The Drought If we can get enough people to become vegans A drought for the ages By Patrick O'Driscoll, USA TODAY DENVER — Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental USA. And it's spreading.half the nation is either abnormally dry or in outright drought from prolonged lack of rain that could lead to water shortages, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly index of conditions. Welcome rainfall last weekend from Tropical Storm Barry brought short-term relief to parts of the fire-scorched Southeast. But up to 50 inches of rain is needed to end the drought there, and this is the driest spring in the Southeast since record-keeping began in 1895, according to the National Climatic Data Center. Coast to coast, the drought's effects are as varied as the landscapes: •In central California, ranchers are selling cattle or trucking them out of state as grazing grass dries up. In Southern California's Antelope Valley, rainfall at just 15% of normal erased the spring bloom of California poppies. •In South Florida, Lake Okeechobee, America's second-largest body of fresh water, fell last week to a record low — an average 8.89feet above sea level. So much lake bed is dry that 12,000 acres of it caught fire last month. Saltwater intrusion threatens to contaminate municipal wells for Atlantic coastal towns as fresh groundwater levels drop. •In Alabama, shallow ponds on commercial catfish farms are dwindling, and more than half the corn and wheat crops are in poor condition. Dry episodes have become so persistent in the West that some scientists and water managers say drought is the " new normal " there. Reinforcing that notion are global-warming projections warning of more and deeper dry spells in the Southwest, although a report in last week's Science magazine challenges the climate models and suggests there will be more rainfall worldwide later this century. " It seems extremely likely that drought will become more the norm " for the West, says Kathy Jacobs of the Arizona Water Institute, a research partnership of the state's three universities. " Droughts will continue to come and go, but … higher temperatures are going to produce more water stress. " That's because warmer temperatures in the Southwest boosts demands for water and cause more to evaporate from lakes and reservoirs. " The only good news about drought is it forces us to pay attention to water management, " says Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute, a think tank in Oakland that stresses efficient water use. This drought has been particularly harsh in three regions: the Southwest, the Southeast and northern Minnesota. Severe dryness across California and Arizona has spread into 11 other Western states. On the Colorado River, the water supply for 30 million people in seven states and Mexico, the Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are only half full and unlikely to recover for years. In Los Angeles County, on track for a record dry year with 21% of normal rain downtown since last summer, fire officials are threatening to cancel Fourth of July fireworks if conditions worsen. On Wednesday, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged residents to voluntarily cut water use 10%, the city's first such call since the 1990s. In Minnesota, which is in its worst drought since 1976, the situation is improving slowly, although a wildfire last month burned dozens of houses and 115 square miles in the northeastern part of the state. The Southeast, unaccustomed to prolonged dry spells, may be suffering the most. In eight states from Mississippi to the Carolinas and down through Florida, lakes are shrinking, crops are withering, well levels are falling and there are new limits on water use. " We need 40-50 inches of rainfall to get out of the drought, " says Carol Ann Wehle of the South Florida Water Management District. Despite a recent storm, water hasn't flowed in Florida's Kissimmee River, which feeds Lake Okeechobee, in 212 days. The district has imposed its strictest water-use limits ever in 13 counties, cutting home watering to once a week and commercial use by 45%. in California, winter snowpack in the Sierra Nevada range was only 27% of normal this year, another dry winter would tax supplies. Gleick says water managers are not reacting forcefully enough to the drought: " The time to tell people that we're in the middle of a drought and to institute strong conservation programs is today, not a year from now. " The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is doing that. Last month, it began a " Let's Save " radio campaign. After nearly a decade of drought in parts of the West, the nation's fastest-growing region wrestles with rising water demands and declining supply. Donald Wilhite of the National Drought Mitigation Center says the Southwest and Southeast are " becoming gradually more vulnerable to drought " because the rising population will need more water. " We think of water as an unlimited resource, " he says. " But what happens when you turn on the tap and it's not there? " Contributing: Doyle Rice How Much Water to Make One Pound of Beef? March 1, 2001 -- To date, probably the most reliable and widely- accepted water estimate to produce a pound of beef is the figure of 2,500 gallons/pound. Newsweek once put it another way: " the water that goes into a 1,000 pound steer would float a destroyer. " Not surprisingly, the beef industry promotes a study that determined, using highly suspect calculations, that only 441 gallons of water are required to produce a pound of beef. (The cattlemen's study applied liberal deductions from water actually used, reasoning that water was evaporated at points during the process, or was " returned " to the water table after being used to grow plant feed, or was returned to the water table via urea and excrement from cows. Thus, study authors reasoned these waters were not " lost " but " recycled " and therefore could be subtracted from gross amount of water actually used in beef production. Of course, evaporation and cow dung don't go very far in replenishing water pumped from acquifers which took thousands of years to fill. It's interesting to consider that if the same fuzzy math were applied to calculating how much water it takes to grow vegetables, potatoes would probably only require about 2 gallons of water per pound.) Bestselling author and vegetarian trailblazer John Robbins has examined in detail a variety of estimates and who worked on them, and some of his observations are in his new book Food Revolution (see here). So what's the beef with beef, when it comes to water? Simply put: it's wasteful and irresponsible to squander our precious resources on a luxury item like meat. The only question we're left with is: just how wasteful and irresponsible is it? Once again, our intrepid investigator, John Robbins, recently uncovered some startling new evidence. That evidence comes in the form of a scholarly new book which sheds new light on the subject. Edited by David Pimentel and others and published in January, the book is titled Ecological Integrity: Integrating Environment, Conservation and Health (Island Press, Washington DC, 2001). Pimentel is a celebrated professor of ecology and agricultural science at Cornell University, who has published over 500 scientific articles, 20 books and overseen scores of important studies. The other editors of the book are Laura Westra, professor of environmental studies at Sarah Lawrence College, and Reed Noss, president and chief scientist for Conservation Science, Inc., and president of the Society for Conservation Biology. Drought, warmth bring record low water levels in Lake Superior By John Flesher, AP Environmental Writer TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Drought and mild temperatures have pushed Lake Superior's water level to its lowest point on record for this time of year, continuing a downward spiral across the Great Lakes. Preliminary data show Superior's average water level in September dipped 1.6 inches beneath the previous low for that month reached in 1926, Cynthia Sellinger, deputy director of NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, said Sunday. PHOTO GALLERY: Lake Superior drops to record low levels The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which uses a different measuring technique, calculated the September level at four inches below the record, said Scott Thieme, chief of hydraulics and hydrology for the Detroit district office. It's the first time in 81 years that the biggest and deepest of the lakes, with a surface area matching South Carolina's, has reached a new monthly low, Sellinger said. The Army Corps recorded Superior as also setting a record by a half-inch in August. But the NOAA lab had the lake at slightly above its record level then. FIND MORE STORIES IN: Detroit | Mich | Great Lakes | NOAA | Drought | Lake Superior | Cynthia Sellinger Either way, the lake has plummeted over the past year and has lagged beneath its long-term average level for a decade — the longest such period in its known history. " I've been here since 1959 and this is the lowest I've seen it, " said Joel Johnson, owner of Lakehead Boat Basin in Duluth, Minn. Some areas had so little water last spring and summer that recreational boats couldn't reach docking slips, although other marina operators managed operate normally. Commercial shippers, who haul iron ore and coal across the lakes to manufacturing centers such as Detroit, have been unable to fill cargo holds to capacity for fear of scraping bottom in shallow channels. The biggest vessels, which hold 67,600 tons, have left 6,000 to 8,000 tons behind on many trips, said Glen Nekvasil, spokesman for the Lake Carriers Association. " Light loading has been just creaming the industry this year, " he said. All the Great Lakes, which together make up about 20% of the world's fresh surface water, have been in decline since the late 1990s. Lakes Huron and Michigan are about two feet below their long-term average levels, while Lake Superior is about 20 inches off. Lake Ontario is about seven inches below its long-term average and Lake Erie a couple of inches down. The NOAA lab bases its statistics on measurements taken by a gauge near Marquette. The Army Corps averages the numbers from several gauges around the lake. Levels typically fluctuate through the year. Superior, a feeder for the other lakes, rises in spring and summer as melted snow flows into its headwaters, then recedes in fall and winter. But precipitation is well below normal in the Lake Superior watershed, and unusually mild winters have reduced the winter ice cap, boosting evaporation. with Superior at its all-time low point for the beginning of fall — when the lake usually begins its annual drop-off — prospects for quick improvement wouldn't seem good. Scientists point to a number of possible causes for the low water, including historical cycles, weather patterns and global warming. " Is this going to continue? That's the big question and we don't know, " Sellinger said. How Our Food Choices Can Help Save the Environment From a speech delivered to EarthSave Baltimore by Professor Steve Boyan The Union of Concerned Scientists says that the two things that people can do which will most help the environment are (1) to drive a fuel efficient automobile (that means, not a SUV or a truck), along with a decision to live near to where you work. That recommendation is indeed important. Anything you can do either in what you drive or where you live is important. The 2nd thing the Union of Concerned Scientists proposed that people could do which also would have dramatically good consequences for the environment: to not eat beef. I'm going to go one step farther than UCS: I suggest that you refuse to eat any animal or animal product produced on a factory farm. And I'm going to tell you why. In 1990, when I first read, that 10 people could be fed with the grain that you would feed a cow that would be turned into food for one person, I was impressed. But I was not moved. The reason was: if 10 people would be fed because I gave up meat, I'd give it up. But, I thought, if I give up meat, it won't have that impact: it probably won't have any impact on anything at all, except me. I was wrong. If I had known that for every pound of beef I did not eat, I would save anywhere from 2500 to 5000 gallons of water - you heard it, for every pound of beef, 2500 to 5000 gallons of water, I would have been moved. It's a good idea to save water; we are depleting our underground aquifers faster than we are replenishing them. The largest one, the Ogallala, which covers a vast part of the country from the mid-west to the mountain states, is being depleted by 13 trillion gallons a year. It is going to run out. Northwest Texas is already dry. They can't get any water from their wells. John Robbins points out that in the 1980's and 1990's, to conserve water, most of us went to low flow showerheads. If we take a daily 7 minute shower, he says, and we have a 2 gallon per minute low flow showerhead, you use about 100 gallons of water per week, or 5200 gallons of water per year. If you had used the old fashioned 3 gallon per minute showerhead, I calculate you would have used 7644 gallons of water per year. So by going low flow, you saved almost 2500 gallons of water per year. Wonderful. But by giving up one pound of beef that year, you'd save maybe double that. By giving up one pound of beef, you'd save more water than you would than by not showering at all for six months! And that's just one of the environmental impacts you'd have. The modern factory farming system is a prolific consumer of fossil fuel and a prolific producer of poisonous wastes. Up to 100,000 animals are herded together on huge feedlots. These animals do not graze on grass, as picture books tell us; they can't graze at all. They are crowded, filthy, and stinking places with open sewers, unpaved roads, and choking air. The animals would not survive at all but for the fact that they are fed huge amounts of antibiotics. It is now conceded that the antibiotics fed to cattle are the main cause of antibiotic resistance in people, as the bacteria constantly in these environments evolve to survive them. The cattle are fed prodigious quantities of corn. At a feedlot of a mere 37,000 cows, 25 tons of corn is dumped every hour. It takes 1.2 gallons of oil to make the fertilizer used for each bushel of that corn. Before a cow is slaughtered, she will eat 25 pounds of corn a day; by the time she is slaughtered she will be over 1200 lbs. In her lifetime she will have consumed 284 gallons of oil. Today's factory raised cow is not a solar powered ruminant but another fossil fuel machine. And she will produce waste. Livestock now produces 130 times the amount of waste that people do. This waste is untreated and unsanitary. It bubbles with chemicals and disease-bearing organisms. It overpowers nature's ability to clean it up. It's poisoning rivers, killing fish, and getting into human drinking water. 65% of California's population is threatened by pollution in drinking water just from dairy cow manure. It isn't just cows that produce this waste. Factory raised hogs produce 4 times the waste in North Carolina as the 6.5 million people of that state do. Cases of pfiesteria have broken out in that state and even here in Maryland - from water polluted from pig farms and chicken farms. Even the oceans are polluted: 7000 sq. miles of the Gulf of Mexico are a complete dead zone. There are more environmental impacts. Cattle don't spend their entire lives in feedlots. When they are young, they graze. Where do they graze? Well, more than 2/3rds of the land area of the mountain states are used for grazing. 70% of the lands in western national forests are grazed; 90% of Bureau of Land Management land is grazed. These are public lands, lands that President Clinton didn't even try to save. These lands are trampled by the cattle, compacting the soil. When it rains, the land doesn't absorb the water. Instead, it runs off, taking away topsoil, forming deep gullies, and damaging streambeds. Your tax dollar subsidizes this activity. The government protects the cattle by killing off any creature which might threaten the livestock. They poison, trap, snare, den, shoot, or gun down the wildlife. Denning, by the way, is the practice by federal agents of pouring kerosene into the dens of animals and setting them on fire, burning the young animals alive in their nests. ccording to Robbins, agents kill badgers, black bear, bobcats, coyotes, gray fox, red fox, mountain lions, opossums, raccoons, skunks, beavers, porcupines, prairie dogs, black birds, cattle egrets, and starlings using these methods. These activities are on public lands, which were created in large part to protect the environment! I'm not done yet. We in the United States do not get all of our beef from the west. We import more than 200 million pounds of beef from Central America alone. Every second of every day, 1 football field of tropical rainforest is destroyed in order to produce 257 hamburgers. A ¼ lb hamburger destroys 67 square feet of rainforest. Every time you destroy rainforest land, you destroy rich plant and animal life, varieties of life we don't even understand, and forms of which may provide the medicines we need to cure disease. Rainforests supply us with oxygen. They moderate our climates. When rainforests are destroyed, it's only a matter of time before the land becomes desertified. They absorb some of the carbon dioxide we are spewing into the atmosphere. We humans have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 25%, compared to any other period when humans were on this planet. Most of that gain has taken place in the last 50 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, consisting of some of the best scientists in the world, says global warming is a fact. If uncontrolled, we will have ecosystem collapses, crop failures, weather disasters, coastal flooding, the spreading of previously controlled diseases, the death of coral reefs, and new insect pests. Some of these things are starting to happen already. Coral reefs are dying. Insect pests are spreading out of their range and killing off new kinds of trees. Weather patterns are changing. Some places have had extreme weather events, with billions of dollars of losses. Some island people have had to abandon their islands because rising seas have salinated their underground aquifers. Carbon dioxide is largely produced by the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal, and especially our use of inefficient vehicles for transportation. But not often mentioned is the fossil fuel used to raise farm animals. As I said earlier, a factory cow is a fossil fuel machine, not a solar powered ruminant whose wastes fertilize the fields to produce more grass for the cow to eat. When you eat beans, for example, you use 1/27th the amount of fossil fuel to produce a calorie of energy as you do when you eat beef. You get the same food energy producing only 4% of the carbon dioxide that a person eating beef does. Another fact we don't talk about: cattle produce almost 1/5th of global methane emissions. Cattle fart. Big time. Their gas is methane. Methane is actually 24 times as potent as carbon dioxide in causing climate chaos. There's another major environmental consequence of our factory system of animal raising: that's the matter of species extinctions. Now it is true that species die off all the time. Normally, the earth has lost 10 to 25 species per year. But in the billions of years of life on this earth, we have had 5 periods of major extinctions; the last one was 67 million years ago, when, possibly because of a meteor colliding with the earth, we lost the dinosaurs. But now there's a sixth extinction, and it is not caused by a meteor, but by human beings. And this is a big one; we are losing several thousand species per year, and maybe tens of thousands. We think of mammals that are endangered, and 25% of mammalian species are endangered. But what's much more endangered, or wiped out already, are the plants, including varieties of plankton, fungi, bacteria, and insects, that are fundamental to all so-called higher forms of life. All life will unravel if these creatures are wiped out. The driving force behind all these extinctions is the destruction of wildlife habitat, especially the rainforests of the world. The driving force behind the destruction of the rainforests is livestock grazing. The leading cause of species in the United States being threatened or eliminated is livestock grazing. A 1997 study of endangered species in the southwestern United States by the Fish and Wildlife Service found that half the species studied were threatened by cattle ranching. You know, you and I cannot change all this. We are not going to be able to get a bill through Congress outlawing factory farming. Yet Earthsave as an organization believes we can still have a dramatic effect: we believe that you can protect your health and protect the environment one bite at a time. Let's review what I've said here: by not eating beef - and other farm animals as well - you : Save massive amounts of water - 3000 to 5000 gallons of water for every pound of beef you avoid Avoid polluting our streams and rivers better than any other single recycling effort you do Avoid the destruction of topsoil Avoid the destruction of tropical forest: remember passing up ¼ lb of hamburger averts the destruction of 67 sq ft of rainforest Avoid the production of carbon dioxide. Your average car produces 3 kg/day of CO2. To clear rainforest to produce beef for one hamburger produces 75 kilograms of CO2. Eating one lb of hamburger does the same damage as driving your car for over 3 weeks. Reduces the amount of methane gas produced. I imagine the next bumper sticker: stop farts, don't eat beef. Reduces the destruction of wildlife habitat Help to save endangered species. That's a pretty good day's work, for just what you don't put in your mouth. --- ----------- This is a transcript of the Earth Day talk that was given for the Baltimore chapter of EarthSave International by Steve Boyan Ph.D., a recently retired political science professor at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has published two books on environmental issues, and may be available to speak for other groups. His email address is boyan. Drought in West and Southeast spreads to Mid-Atlantic WASHINGTON (AP) -- Confirming what many farmers, boaters and others already knew, the government reported Tuesday that the drought parching much of the West and Southeast spread into the Mid-Atlantic area in September. Water levels at Lake Carter, about 90 miles north of Atlanta, Georgia, are at record lows. At the end of September about 43 percent of the contiguous United States was in moderate to extreme drought, the National Climate Data Center said Tuesday. Worldwide, meanwhile, the agency said the year to date has been the warmest on record for land. It has been the seventh warmest year so far over the oceans, working out to the fourth warmest overall worldwide. But drought is probably the greatest concern in many parts of the country and the year to date has been the driest on record for Tennessee and North Carolina. The eastern seaboard from Maine to the Carolinas and across parts of Florida was unusually dry in September, NCDC said. And the September dryness extended across the Ohio Valley and into the southern Great Lakes. The agency, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said drier-than-normal weather was also experienced in September across parts of the Pacific Northwest and northern Plains. Drought-related conditions included: --As of September 25, Pasadena, California, experienced its driest year since records began in 1878. Many California communities imposed water use restrictions. --The Great Lakes, which together make up about 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water, have been in decline since the late 1990s. Lakes Huron and Michigan were about two feet below their long- term average levels, while Lake Superior was about 20 inches off, Lake Ontario 7 inches below and Lake Erie a few inches down. --Maryland and Pennsylvania had about half of their counties under a drought watch. Many areas in upstate New York reported record low reservoir levels and dried-up wells and farm ponds. --Alabama Power, the state's largest utility, has been operating some of its coal plants at significantly reduced levels to avoid raising water temperatures in the Coosa, Black Warrior and Mobile rivers. --The Tennessee Valley Authority shut down Browns Ferry Unit II nuclear power plant due to inadequate stream flow. --At the end of September, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division declared a level four drought response across the northern third of the state, which prohibits most types of outdoor residential water use. Watch drought conditions in Georgia » The report said that while September was only the eighth warmest month on record for the United States, it was still hot enough to break 1,000 daily high records across the country. With the worldwide warming, the extent of Arctic Sea ice reached its lowest amount in September since satellite measurements began in 1979, shattering the previous record low set in 2005 News Flash: Long Term Drought Drying Up Large Parts of USA - Atlanta has 3 Months of Water Left WARM SUMMER IN U.S. ENDS WITH RECORD HEAT IN SOUTH, WIDESPREAD DROUGHT CONTINUES IN SOUTHEAST, WEST September 12, 2007 — The June-August 2007 summer season ended with a long-lasting heatwave that set more than 2,000 new daily high temperature records across the southern and central U.S., according to scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The record heat helped make this the second warmest August and the sixth warmest summer on record for the contiguous U.S., based on preliminary data. At the end of August, drought affected almost half of the continental U.S. The global surface temperature was seventh warmest on record for the June-August period. (Click NOAA image for larger view of the August 2007 statewide temperature rankings. Please credit " NOAA. " ) U.S. Temperature Highlights for Summer For summer 2007 (June-August), the average temperature for the continental U.S., based on preliminary data, was 73.8 degrees F (23.2 degrees C), which was 1.7 degrees F (1.0 degrees C) above the 20th century mean and the sixth warmest summer since national records began in 1895. This was the warmest summer for Utah and Nevada and it ranked in the top 10 warmest summers on record for 11 other states. Alaska had its fourth warmest summer on record. Only Texas and Oklahoma were cooler than average. The much warmer-than-average conditions in the Southeast and throughout the West contributed to above average residential energy demand for the nation. Using the Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index (REDTI - an index developed at NOAA to relate energy usage to climate), the nation's residential energy demand was approximately 8 percent higher than what would have occurred under average climate conditions for the season. U.S. Temperature Highlights for August For the contiguous U.S., the average temperature for August was 75.4 degrees F (24.1 degrees C), which was 2.7 degrees F (1.5 degrees C) above the 20th century mean and the second warmest August on record, based on preliminary data. A severe heatwave persisted throughout much of the month across southern and central parts of the nation. More than 30 all-time high temperature records were tied or broken and more than 2,000 new daily high temperature records were established. Raleigh-Durham, N.C., equaled its all-time high of 105 degrees F Aug. 21. Columbia, S.C., had 14 days in August with temperatures over 100 degrees F, which broke the record of 12 set in 1900. Cincinnati, Ohio, reached 100 degrees F five days during August, a new record for the city. This was the warmest August in the 113-year record for West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Utah. For the Southeast, the length, severity and area of the heat wave led to comparisons with events in 1983 and 1954. U.S. Precipitation Highlights for Summer Overall, the summer was drier than average for the nation. Rainfall was below average in the Southeast, mid-Atlantic, Ohio Valley, the northern Plains and Northern Rockies. (Click NOAA image for larger view of the June-August 2007 statewide precipitation rankings. Please credit " NOAA. " ) Texas had its wettest summer on record and Oklahoma its fourth wettest. The unusually wet period was punctuated by heavy and persistent rains in June and July that produced devastating flooding in the region. In the Southeast, this was the driest summer since records began in 1895 for North Carolina and the second driest for Tennessee. A hot and dry July in the Northern Rockies contributed to a fast start to the wildfire season, and August remained very active as warmer and drier-than-average conditions persisted in many areas. By early September, more than 7 million acres had burned across the nation, most of it in the western U.S. U.S. Precipitation Highlights for AugustNews Flash: Long Term Drought Drying Up Large Parts of USA - Atlanta has 3 Months of Water Left The record warmth and below-average rainfall in August led to an expansion of drought in the Southeast and parts of the mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley. At the end of August, drought affected approximately 83 percent of the Southeast and 46 percent of the contiguous U.S., according to the federal U.S. Drought Monitor. (Click NOAA image for larger view of the U.S. Drought Monitor. Please credit " NOAA. " ) Severe drought persisted throughout much of the West and an area that stretched from northern Minnesota to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Part of the Midwest received record precipitation in August, as a persistent frontal system provided a focus for heavy rain and thunderstorms. Precipitation was two to three times normal for the month in a wide band across the central Midwest, and major flooding occurred in parts of a region that stretched from southeastern Minnesota to central Ohio. Iowa had its wettest August on record. Tropical Storm Erin made landfall near Lamar, Texas, Aug. 16, bringing heavy rains to areas already much wetter than normal for the year. Widespread flooding ensued in southern Texas and Oklahoma. Global Highlights The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for August was the eighth warmest on record, 0.85 degrees F/0.47 degrees C above the 20th century mean. The global surface temperature for June- August (Northern Hemisphere summer) was the seventh warmest since records began in 1880. Separately, the global land-surface temperature was the third warmest for August and the fifth warmest for boreal summer. The August ocean-surface temperature was the ninth warmest in the 128- year period of record as cooler-than-average conditions in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific indicated the ongoing development of a La Niña episode. NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects. Note to Editors: August and June-August 2007 data, graphics and analysis, are online at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2007/aug/aug07.html. Relevant Web Sites NOAA August 2007 Data, Graphics and Analysis U.S. National Overview - August 2007 Media Contact: John Leslie, NOAA Satellite and Information Service, (301) 713-1265 What is water? H two O hydrogen and oxygen. Guess what the vast numbers of animals that would not exist without the demand for animal based foods consume? You guessed right if you said oxygen. (among other things). Guess what they produce? You guessed right if you said carbon dioxide. (among other things). Yes, just like people animals consume oxygen and produce carbon dioxide. We need that oxygen to breathe and we also need that oxygen to make water. Less oxygen means less water. The more animals humans raise to satisfy the demand for an animal based diet the less oxygen there is to breathe and the less oxygen there is to create water. Water is hydrogen and oxygen. The United Nations FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization's study on this subject makes the message clear. " Meat Contributes to Climate Change, UN Study Confirms by Megan Tady Dec. 7, 2006 – The typical American diet adds significantly to pollution, water scarcity, land degradation and climate change, according to a United Nations report released last week. Written by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),the report is the latest research linking meat-eating with environmental destruction. According to the FAO, the arm of the UN that works on worldwide hunger-defeating initiatives, animal farming presents a " major threat to the environment " with such " deep and wide- ranging " impacts that it should rank as a leading focus for environmental policy. The report calls the livestock sector a " major player " in affecting climate change through greenhouse-gas production. The FAO found that the ranching and slaughter of cows and other animals generates an estimated 18 percent of total human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions globally. Greenhouse gases – such as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide – are linked to global warming. Livestock emit methane and other greenhouse gasses through excrement and belching. The FAO estimates that cow manure and flatulence generate 30 to 40 percent of total methane emissions from human- influenced activities. As demand for meat grows, the report explains, so does the need for pasture and cropland, making deforestation an additional concern; currently, according to the report, the livestock sector occupies 30 percent of ice-free land on the planet. Extensive grazing also takes a toll on arable land. The livestock sector also contributes to water depletion; currently, the livestock sector accounts for 8 percent of human water use globally. Animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, as well as chemicals from tanneries and pesticides from feed crops, also contaminate water supplies. Henning Steinfeld, an author of the report, said in a press statement that " urgent action is required to remedy the situation. " While the report gives a global picture of meat production, sustainable-food advocates say the US is leading the world in harmful meat-eating habits and industry practices. From 2000 to 2002, consumers in the United States ate on average approximately 38.5 million tons of meat per year, second only to China, according to the FAO analysis. In those same years, the United Kingdom consumed nearly 5 million tons of meat each year, Brazil nearly 15.5 million tons and Uganda 308,647 tons. North America had one of the highest methane emissions from livestock manure management in the world in 2004, according to the report. Methane is more readily produced when manure is managed in a liquid form, such as in holding tanks or lagoons commonly used in North America. Additionally, the US is a leader in CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels in the manufacture of nitrogen fertilizer used to grow food for livestock.... Dawn Moncrief, director of ... a national food-education organization, said that not only are US consumers harming the environment through their appetite for meat, but American food choices are being exported to other countries. " [The US sets] the example, which a lot of the world is trying to follow, " Moncrief told TNS. " [Meat consumption is] partly being exported by our corporate interests who are pushing it as a lifestyle because they're making money in it. " Often serving as a status symbol, meat is becoming a staple in diets of countries that, prior to industrialization and Western cultural influence, ate far fewer animal products. According to FAO, world meat production is expected to double by 2050. In March 2006, the Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago released a study that compared the differences in greenhouse-gas emissions caused by various plant- and meat-based diets. Researchers found that the difference between a red-meat diet and a vegan diet – in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions – equaled the difference between driving a sedan and driving a sport-utility vehicle. " These results clearly demonstrate the primary effect of one's dietary choices on one's planetary footprint, an effect comparable in magnitude to the car one chooses to drive, " the report concluded. Despite such alarming findings, the FAO report stopped short of suggesting more people adopt plant-based diets; instead it advocated for technological solutions and changes in farming policies. " It's not like [the UN is] going to advocate a vegan diet, but they could say, 'A plant-based diet would get you [closer to sustainability], " Moncreif said. Among the remedies, the UN suggested investing technology that already exists, including soil-conservation methods, feeding methods that reduce livestock's gas emissions, and improved irrigation and manure management systems. Adopting these changes " with a sense of urgency, " wrote the FAO, can " make a very significant contribution to reducing and reversing environmental damage. " The report also noted the economic importance of the livestock sector to global populations; work with livestock contributes 40 percent of global agriculture Gross Domestic Product and employs 1.3 billion people worldwide. But Moncrief said simply altering agriculture practices without changing consumers' food consciousness and habits will not lead to true sustainability, in terms of either environmental health or feeding the growing population. " They talk about the problems, but then they refuse to advocate a reduction of meat as part of the solution, " Moncrief said. " We just think we're going to be able to outsmart our way out of this. " Moncrief said educating consumers about their food choices is essential. " We need to get organizations who are working on food-policy issues, like the UN and the USDA, to at least come out and say, 'Here are the health benefits, here are the environmental benefits' " to reducing meat consumption, Moncrief said. " If we could get these governmental and quasi-governmental agencies to come out and say it, that would be a good first step. " Gidon Eshel, assistant professor of physical oceanography and climate and co-author of the University of Chicago report, echoed Moncrief's concern. Eshel told TNS: " It is probably not a bad idea to suggest unambiguously that if more people used less animal products in their diet than they do today, we [would] be able to sustain a larger number of people on earth for an indefinite period of time, or afford those who are here a better lifestyle. " Vegan Animal Rights Environmental Feminist World Hunger Activism Campaign is really very simple. Get the average person to stop eating animals and animal products and you can produce a world in which vast numbers of animals are no longer created to satsify the demand for animal centered diets. You can help to save the environment, help people to expand their consciousness about oppression as they end their oppression of animals for food they may end their oppressions of one another and help to create a world in which men and women are equals and food is grown for people not for so called-food animals. You can even cut the funding to petroleum exporting state sponsors of terror by eliminating high energy requiring animal centered diets. By doing so you can stop those who seek to reverse the progress earth has made in attaining women's rights as it is those same petroleum exporting state sponsors of terror who seek to see women confined to their homes as they were under the Taliban, with so-called " morality police " in the streets whipping any unescorted women they found outside their homes. You can emulate PETA's alleged takeover of an old anti-vivisection group by joining environmental and other groups and turning them into vegan advocacy organizations. http://coolcities.us/ is the url for Cool Cities Across America All over America, communities are taking action to help solve global warming. From hybrid vehicle fleets in Charlotte, to green buildings in Austin, and homes powered with renewable energy in Seattle, local governments are moving forward with innovative energy solutions that curb global warming, save taxpayer dollars, and create healthier cities. At a time when the federal government is failing to act, these local leaders are moving America toward a safer and more secure future. So what is a Cool City? These are cities that have made a commitment to stopping global warming by signing the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement. The Cool Cities campaign helps cities turn their commitments into action by pushing for smart energy solutions. To find out whether you live in a Cool City, click on your state or search by your city. To get involved with a Cool Cities campaign in your city, network with citizens taking action nationwide, and gain access to campaign resources you can click on the following url: http://www.coolcities.us/user/register I hope that everyone who can will get involved with that campaign. Imagine a world in which Cool Cities pledged not to buy animal products with their city budgets. Imagine a world in which Cool Cities taught their citizens, including their school children how to become vegans and why they should become vegans and stopped feeding animal products to their citizens including their school children. You can help to make that happen if you get involved and talk to and write and call your local city and town and village officials. Imagine the impact vegans and animal rights people could have if they packed every one of the upcoming live earth parties and turned them into discussion groups on how veganism can help to stop global warming and more. http://www.joinliveearth.org/page/s/sierrahouseparty Did you know that to get the amount of energy your body will receive from a can of corn requires about 77 calories of energy input. To get the same amount of energy for your body from steak would require about 21,000 calories of energy input. Every penny you put into the hands of certain petroleum exporting countries whose names are known to everyone puts more arms, including weapons of mass destruction they seek to build, buy, or steal, in the hands of those nations and the terrorist gangs they support whose members seek to destroy America, Israel, and the rest of the civilized world. You can fight back against terrorism and the state sponsors of terrorism that gain their revenues from exporting petroleum by eating directly rather than through animals. Frances Moore Lappe's classic 1970s era book: DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET told us all that it takes on average about 8 to 10 pounds of protein input fed to animals to get one pound of animal protein on the plate. If you are talking about steak it takes 21 pounds of protein fed to animals to get 1 pound of steak protein on the plate. 86% of corn, oats and barley, 90% of non-exported soybeans grown in America have for decades been fed to animals rather than grown for and fed to human beings. Whether you support the struggle against world hunger or the struggle against petroleum exporting state sponsors of terrorism eating low on the food chain helps to make it possible to feed human beings directly and helps take money out of the hands of petroleum exporting state sponsors of terror. Vast numbers of so called " food animals " are raised to satsify demand for animals as food. All of those so-called " food animals " compete with humans for land, food, water and oxygen. The very air we breathe is at stake, as is our planet and all of the life on it. So called " food animals " all produce carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and other deadly greenhouse gases, contributing to global warming and the Greenhouse Effect. Florida Resists Georgia Drought Proposal Plan To Slow Water Flow From GA Reservoirs Could Imperil Panhandle Fishing Industry TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Oct. 25, 2007(AP) Allowing Georgia to fight drought by slowing water flow into Florida would imperil commercial fishing along the Florida Panhandle, Gov. Charlie Crist argued in a letter to President Bush. Crist urged Bush not to let Georgia move forward with a water-saving plan to slow the flow from reservoirs into rivers that eventually reach Florida. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue has sued to try to force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to curb the release of water from North Georgia lakes into rivers that make their way to the Gulf of Mexico through the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola River basin. The corps controls water releases in the basin. Georgia officials want to reduce the depletion of reservoir levels into early next year, so that no more water flows out than is coming in. But doing so would hurt the Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay " resulting in a profound disruption of the socio-economic foundation in Florida's Panhandle region, " Crist wrote in the letter dated Wednesday. Florida, Alabama and Georgia have been in a dispute for years over how to manage the supply of water that flows down from North Georgia into the other two states on its way to the gulf. As metro Atlanta has grown the problem has grown too - with one of the major lakes in that area, Lake Lanier, serving as the main source of drinking water for the city. Now, the problem is exacerbated by a drought that is gripping much of the Southeast, and is so bad in Georgia that officials ordered state agencies and public utilities to reduce usage, and have banned outdoor watering in most of the state. Crist said Florida, Alabama and Georgia need to work together on more research into alternative water sources, noting that Florida has been studying desalinization and additional conservation programs. Officials from the Corps of Engineers didn't respond to a request for comment. Forecasters have predicted a dry winter, bad news because it could take months of above-average rainfall to replenish the Apalachicola- Chattahoochee-Flint river basin. And North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley testified before a congressional committee on how the drought has hurt the state's crops and livestock. He appealed to lawmakers to send money to drought-ravaged farms in his state. Massive California Fires Consistent With Climate Change, Experts Say The catastrophic fires that are sweeping Southern California are consistent with what climate change models have been predicting for years, experts say, and they may be just a prelude to many more such events in the future " This is exactly what we've been projecting to happen, both in short- term fire forecasts for this year and the longer term patterns that can be linked to global climate change, " said Ronald Neilson, a professor at Oregon State University and bioclimatologist with the USDA Forest Service. " You can't look at one event such as this and say with certainty that it was caused by a changing climate, " said Neilson, who was also a contributor to publications of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a co-recipient earlier this month of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. " But things just like this are consistent with what the latest modeling shows, " Neilson said, " and may be another piece of evidence that climate change is a reality, one with serious effects. " " In the future, catastrophic fires such as those going on now in California may simply be a normal part of the landscape, " said Neilson. Fire forecast models developed by Neilson's research group at OSU and the Forest Service rely on several global climate models. When combined, they accurately predicted both the Southern California fires that are happening and the drought that has recently hit parts of the Southeast, including Georgia and Florida, causing crippling water shortages. Research Indicates No Relief For Drought, Fire Concerns CORVALLIS – It does not appear there will be any major relief this spring or summer from the unusually dry weather that has recently hit the Pacific Northwest, according to new projections of drought severity and fire risk that are based on " general circulation " models that forecast global climate. The analysis, which was developed by researchers at the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and Oregon State University, also shows that the northwestern part of the country will face forest and rangeland fires this year that could be unusually severe and generally the worst of any area in the nation.drought severity and associated fire risks in southern Florida, Maine and southeastern Arizona. And there is a major problem of historic proportions developing in a six-state region that includes Oregon, Washington, northern California, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. " We project that the drought severity the northwestern states are now experiencing will only get worse in coming months, and reach levels that were generally seen during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, " said Ronald Neilson, a bioclimatologist with the U.S. Forest Service and professor of botany at OSU. The latest consensus forecast for fire risk this spring and summer indicate huge forest and rangeland fire outbreaks in northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington, and more isolated but severe fire potential in forests near Eugene, Roseburg, Bend and the Portland area in Oregon. Other severe fires are forecast for parts of southwestern Idaho and parts of Montana. Unlike short-term weather forecasts, these projections are ultimately based on long-term, global climate models and a " general vegetation model " created by researchers from the Forest Service and OSU, including the work of associate professor of geosciences Chris Daly and the OSU Spatial Climate Analysis Service. These systems have simulated drought and fire in the American West, for instance, fairly accurately backwards in time to 1895, and can also be used to make both near-term and longer projections into the future. They are constantly updated, and now include the latest actual weather information through the end of last January. In terms of the current projections for a tier of states in the northwestern U.S., it appears the situation is going to go from bad to worse. It bears some similarity to conditions last seen in 2001. " We use five different global climate models as the underlying basis for our projections, and they are all showing the same thing, " Neilson said. " It is going to become extremely dry in many parts of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountain states, and the fire risk is going to be significantly higher than normal. There is nothing to indicate a wet spring. " Fire is one obvious implication, the researchers said, but stream flows, fisheries, agriculture, recreation and industry may all be affected. To get a pound of steak protein on your plate 21 pounds of feed grain protein: corn, oats, barley, soy, wheat, etc. etc. etc. are used to fatten that castrated bull called a steer that you eat. On average it takes about 8 to 10 pounds of feed protein fed to so called food animals to get 1 pound of animal protein on your plate. Lots of that is very high energy intensive production using lots of petroleum based fertilizers, pesticides,herbicides, etc. Not to mention vast quantities of water used by the animals and used to irrigate the crops fed to animals. The USA feeds almost all of the the soybeans corn oats and barley it grows to animals rather than to hungry people. Food animals are competitors with humans for oxygen, water, land, energy, and life itself. 40% of the world's oxygen is produced by the tiny plant plankton called phytoplantkon in the oceans. These phytoplantkton live with krill, a fish plankton,in a very fragile ecosystem. These days krill are being used as animal feed and pet food. As the krill vanish so will the phytoplankton that produce 40% of earth's oxygen. The phytoplankton are also jeapordized by increased solar ultraviolet radiation breaking through the holes in the ozone layer above the poles. It is estimated that there will be no more fish in the seas by the middle of this century c.e. Those who want to save energy should consider this, it takes about 77 calories of energy input to get the food energy a CAN of corn will give you. That same amount of food energy from steak would require 21,000 calories of energy input. If anyone knows how to reach Al Gore, or any other enviornmentally concerned people, be they Presidential candidates, or not, please reach out to them about how important it is to stop eating animals and animal products if they really want to to consistent about being advocates for our environment and the survival of life on our fragile small planet. In fact Frances Moore Lappe's 1970s book, DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET, ought to be required reading for every environmentalist and Presidential candidate. If you can get hold of it, or other pro- vegetarian material send it to every enviornmentalist and Presidential candidate you can think of, from Al Gore on down or up as the case may be. Please help to bring these truths to Al Gore and others who have so far refused to come to terms with them by taking action and becoming vegans. we are trying to create a veggie world. That means of course getting more people to become aware of the need to go veggie. And what about the veggies who are out there already? Well I want to tell you a personal story about that. My late father was a veggie when he was younger, but he married a carnivore. As a result I was raised as a carnivore, though I can recall my late father eating vegetable plates at diners we would go to so he could get them and eating vegetarian Chinese food at Chinese restuarants we would go to so he could get that food. At long last he finally gave up and ended his vegetarianism. Though he lived to what some consider to be " a ripe old age " I am convinced that had he remained a veggie he would still be alive. He has been dead for some years now. What all of that means of course is that we need to make sure that veggies marry veggies and that they raise their children as veggies. So the need for single veggie organizations is enormous. NJSingleVegetarians/ Subscribe: NJSingleVegetarians- It was certainly good fortune that I became a veggie myself quite awhile ago but many children of these so-called " veg/carnivore " or " mixed-marriages " are not quite so lucky and end up as non- veggies. I am also of course promoting the veggie way of life to others who are not yet veggies. One key group to promote the veggie way of life to is science fiction fans. Why science fiction fans? Well because some science fiction fans actually become science fiction writers. Why science fiction writers then? Well because the way of life that we take for granted here in the so-called " first world " , of industrialized nations is a way of life that not so long ago was considered to be science fiction. It was a science fiction writer: Arthur C. Clarke, who came up with the idea of communications satellites as a science fiction idea. Well they are fiction no more. Nor are communications devices that do not require wires. Remember the " communicators " on StarTrek? Chances are you have a cell phone in your pocket or in your car, or if you don't you know more than one person who does. Once again, fiction no more. Fact. The science fiction fan of today is the science fiction writer of tomorrow. The science fiction story or idea of today is the fact of tomorrow, just as yesterday's science fiction stories and ideas are the facts of today. Another place I am helping to promote the veggie way of life is in the Jewish community. I happen to be Jewish and would want nothing but the best way of life there is for my fellow Jews. Eating animals is not only not good for the animals who are murdered for food, it is not good for the humans who eat them. Being veggie is also very much in the interests of the Jewish community around the world. Producing a pound of steak " protein " on the plate requires up to 21 pounds of so-called " feed " protein from things like the 42% of American wheat production, the 86% of American corn, oats and barley production, the 90% of non-exported soybean production, that goes into the creation of that pound of steak " protein " on the plate of the American animal eater. Producing all of that so-called " feed " requires a lot of energy. More energy is used as petro-chemical based fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, etc. as well as in the transportation of that so-called " feed " , and of the animals themselves, in the disposal of their wastes, in the movement of water to irrigate those crops and to " water " those animals. Many of the energy sources involved are nations around the world that supply arms to terrorists who slaughter Jews in Israel and around the world, as well as other innocents, such as those who were slaughtered on September 11th. 2001. So I am promoting Jewish singles events at veggie establishments to bring the fact of being able to have a veggie meal as a reality to my fellow Jews. I do so periodically at Veggie Heaven, a Kosher Vegan Chinese Restaurant with several locations here in New Jersey. I hope that similar restaurants exist elsewhere that may serve as event locations. Failing that I hope that vegan house parties can be arranged everywhere. If you are Jewish yourself I hope that you will do the same wherever you may be. If you are able to come to some of these events I hope that you will do so. If you live to far away to get to them by all means create them. Create them for your fellow Jews if you are Jewish. Create them for your fellow veggies if you are veggie. Create them for science fiction fans if you want to see science fiction fans become veggie and science fiction ideas created by veggie science fiction writers, all of whom start off as science fiction fans creating the new facts of life on earth as ones which will make it possible for a veggie world to in fact come into being. Will you help in these effforts? Jewish Singles And Other Events There is never any charge for any of our events. When we go to a restaurant you pay the restaurant directly for your meal plus tax and tip.You never pay us. You are invited to this event in this special series of Jewish Singles lunches and dinners in New Jersey We would like to invite you to this event in this series of upcoming Jewish Singles lunches and dinners in New Jersey for Jewish Single Men born between April 12th, 1945 and January 20th, 1953 and Jewish Single Women born between January 20th, 1953 and January 20th, 1961 At Jerusalem Restaurant (this is a cafeteria) in Livingston, New Jersey on Tuesday Evening October 30th, 2007 c.e. at 6:30 p.m. You do not need a reservation to attend. Just show up. Are you A Jewish Single Man born between April 12th, 1945 and January 20th, 1953? If so you were born during the Presidential Administration of Harry S.Truman. You are a Jewish Single Truman Man Are you A Jewish Single Woman born between January 20th, 1953 and January 20th, 1961? If so you were born during the Presidential Administration of Dwight David Eisenhower. You are a Jewish Single Eisenhower Woman. If you are a Jewish Single Truman Man or a Jewish Single Eisenhower Woman we would like to invite you to a series of upcoming Jewish Singles lunches and dinners in New Jersey for Jewish Single Men born between April 12th, 1945 and January 20th, 1953 and Jewish Single Women born between January 20th, 1953 and January 20th, 1961. When we go to restaurants you pay only for what you order plus tax and tip. You never pay us anything. You pay the restaurant directly. You do not have to be a member of any of our to attend any of our events. If you do join our there is no charge to join them and no charge to belong to them. At Jerusalem Restaurant (this is a cafeteria) in Livingston, New Jersey on Tuesday Evening October 30th, 2007 c.e. at 6:30 p.m. You do not need a reservation to attend. Just show up. You are invited to this event in this series of upcoming Jewish Singles lunches and dinners in New Jersey for Jewish Single Men born between April 12th, 1945 and January 20th, 1953 and Jewish Single Women born between January 20th, 1953 and January 20th, 1961 At Jerusalem Restaurant (this is a cafeteria) in Livingston, New Jersey on Tuesday Evening October 30th, 2007 c.e. at 6:30 p.m. You do not need a reservation to attend. Just show up. Reservations are not needed for this event. Please just try to show up on time for it. As Woody Allen is quoted as saying: " Half of success in life is just showing up on time. " , or words to that effect. We do not charge anything for any of our events. You pay only for what you order when we go to a restaurant. You pay the restaurant directly. You do not pay us anything ever. The restaurant describes itself as serving " Contemporary Vegetarian Cuisine " , The restaurant is Shomer Shabbos and the original was established in 1974. It is under the supervision of Orthodox Rabbis of Metro West. We provide the information as garnered from the restaurants we go to, concerning the Kashrut, or lack of same, at each restaurant. We are not affiliated with any of the restaurants. Please join us at Jerusalem Restaurant (this is a cafeteria) in Livingston, New Jersey on Tuesday Evening October 30th, 2007 c.e. at 6:30 p.m. You do not need a reservation to attend. Just show up. Jerusalem Restaurant is located at 99 West Mount Pleasant Avenue (also known as Route 10) in Livingston NJ, 07039 The telephone number of the restaurant, in case you get lost is 973 533-1424. Please join us at Jerusalem Restaurant (this is a cafeteria) in Livingston, New Jersey on Tuesday Evening October 30th, 2007 c.e. at 6:30 p.m. The menu includes Vegetarian Falafel, Chumus, salads,pasta,vegetarian (soy)stuffed pepper, stuffed cabbage, vegetarian meatballs,vegetarian chili,vegetarian cholent, soups, sandwiches, on pitas, Again, this is a cafeteria, pay only for what you order plus tax. Please join us at Jerusalem Restaurant (this is a cafeteria) in Livingston, New Jersey on Tuesday Evening October 30th, 2007 c.e. at 6:30 p.m. You do not need a reservation to attend. Just show up. Directions to Jerusalem Restaurant (cafeteria) are as follows: From the Garden State Parkway North or South, take Exit 145 to Route 280 WEST to Exit 5A Livingston South, go a little over a mile to the 2nd light. Make a right at the 2nd light onto Mount Pleasant Avenue (also known as Route 10) go almost 3 tenths of a mile, the restaurant is located just past the VFW, make a left into the Jerusalem Restaurant parking lot. Go into the cafeteria, get your food, and find us at one or more of the tables in the cafeteria Note: if you are coming from the WEST take Route 280 EAST to Exit 5A Livingston South and follow the directions above. If you are taking Route 287 North or South take Route 287 to Route 80 East then take Route 280 Eastbound to Exit 5A Livingston South and follow the directions above. at Jerusalem Restaurant (cafeteria) 99 West Mount Pleasant Avenue (also known as Route 10) in Livingston NJ, 07039 If anyone is interested after the event above we have the option of going on to see a movie. We hope to find a movie from the movie section of the newspaper. If we can find one at a nearby theater we expect that anyone who wishes to go to it will do so. There are 2 nearby theaters: The first is: Loew's East Hanover 12 145 State Route 10 East Hanover NJ, 07936 973-515-1200 973 515-1160 When you leave the restaurant make a LEFT TURN onto Route 10 West go a few miles, you will see a Burger King on your left then a Ford Dealer then a Warnock Car Dealership all on your left, the movies are also on your left, however to get to them you will need to make a jughandle type turn, as the movies are on Route 10 Eastbound and you will be going on Route 10 Westbound from the restaurant. If you get to Novartis you have gone too far and need to turn around and take Route 10 eastbound to the movies. The next is: Essex Green Cinema 495 Prospect Ave West Orange, NJ 07052-4100 (973) 669-1977 http://newyork.citysearch.com/map? mode=geo & id=6616610 & map_lat=407895 & map_lon=-74\ 2555 & fid=1 & If we decide to go to a movie at the Essex Green Cinema we will make a RIGHT TURN when we leave the restaurant and proceed on Route 10 East we will be going well past the Livingston NJ Post Office and well past the Exxon gas station on the RIGHT. Continuing on Route 10 Eastbound we will eventually pass an Exxon gas station on the LEFT. We will continue to proceed on Route 10 East to the next traffic light, where we will make a LEFT turn onto Prospect Avenue in West Orange, New Jersey. We will then make a LEFT turn just past the Exxon and Sunoco gas stations (the gas stations will be on our RIGHT) but we will be making a LEFT turn into the Essex Green shopping center where we will find the movies quite easily. A free fantastic Jewish singles resource can be found at the url below http://www.thejewishpeople.org/ You may post your own introductions there, with our without photos of yourself and may also search for other Jewish singles there by state, gender, age range, etc. Everything there is free. We have no connections whatsover to the site but if you do post your photo there you may wish to include the url where your photo may be found at that site in your introductions and responses to other introductions that you post at our Jewish singles groups. Our Jewish singles groups are listed below: Time to Post Your Introduction Please post your introduction to the appropriate Jewish Singles Group (s) below. Please state that you are Jewish in your introduction and when you reply to an introduction and in your membership applications. JewishSinglesOfNJ/ JewishSinglesOfNJ seeks to bring Jewish Singles in New Jersey together via the net and in real life. We hope that members will share information about themselves and about events that are coming up. If anyone wishes to have a house party, a movies and dinner group, or other activity let us share that information too. If you are single, Jewish, in New Jersey over 21 you have come to the right place to meet other single Jews. Welcome! Please state that you are Jewish, if you are Jewish, when you apply to join this group and when you post your introductions and when you reply to other posts. This is a Jewish Singles Group. Jewish Singles From Everywhere for Jewish Singles 21 and over from everywhere JewishSinglesFromEverywhere/ If You Are Single, Jewish, over 21, you have come to the Right Place. Please state that you are Jewish, if you are Jewish, when you apply to join this group and when you post your introductions and when you reply to other posts. This is a Jewish Singles Group. JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael/ JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael If you are Pro-Israel, Jewish,single,21 or over, in or near New Jersey, join us. Participate in our events. In 1948 c.e. the modern State of Israel was established. Jerusalem was reunited in the early days of June 1967 c.e. in what was known as The Six Day War, launched by Israel as a pre-emptive war of self-defense to prevent an imminent arab attack on the modern State of Israel. We can think of no better place in New Jersey to celebrate the fact that the Jewish people ARE in a united Jerusalem, in the modern State of Israel, than a restaurant (cafeteria in this instance), called Jerusalem Restaurant. Please join us at Jerusalem Restaurant (this is a cafeteria) in Livingston, New Jersey on Tuesday Evening October 30th, 2007 c.e. at 6:30 p.m.You do not need a reservation to attend. Just show up. Although you do not have to be a member of our Jewish Singles Groups to attend our events we do hope that you will join them. You may post your introductions to them whenever you wish. When you post your introductions and when you respond to other introductions please state that you are Jewish, single and over 21. Feel free also to give your approximate age if you wish in your posts and your responses to other posts. Please state that you are Jewish, Single, 21 or over, when you apply to join the Jewish Singles at the websites the urls below will take you to JewishSinglesOfNJ/ JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael/ JewishSinglesFromEverywhere/ JewishSinglesOfNJ/ and JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael/ and JewishSinglesFromEverywhere/ Do you have a Jewish single friend that you have not yet met in person and may have been in touch with via email or telephone or otherwise Why not invite that Jewish single friend to meet you at one of the many Jewish singles events listed in our posts Be sure to send your photo to your Jewish single friend, and to ask your Jewish single friend to send a photo to you. That way you can recognize one another when you meet at a Jewish singles event. Please state that you are Jewish, Single, 21 or over, when you apply to join the Jewish Singles at the websites the urls below will take you to JewishSinglesOfNJ/ JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael/ JewishSinglesFromEverywhere/ A free fantastic Jewish singles resource can be found at the url below http://www.thejewishpeople.org/ You may post your own introductions there, with our without photos of yourself and may also search for other Jewish singles there by state, gender, age range, etc. Everything there is free. We have no connections whatsoever to the site, but if you do post your photo there you may wish to include the url where your photo may be found at that site, in your introductions, and responses to other introductions, that you post at our Jewish singles groups. Time to Post Your Introductions Meet In A Public Place Please remember to state if you are a smoker or a non-smoker. Please let people know if you have cats or are allergic to cats. If a photo of you is available you might offer to email one. Please regularly post your introduction as new members keep on joining. Please state that you are Jewish, Single, 21 or over. To post your introduction, or any other post, or idea, or suggestion,or event information,etc. to: JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael/ click on JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael/ and then click on Post or if you are already a member of JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael/ email JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael AT Please let people know your approximate or exact age, what town and county you live in, your gender,what sort of person you are interested in meeting. You may if you wish include a link to your photo.Attachements are stripped out of posts to the group.Please also state that you are Jewish, single and over 21 in your post. To post your introduction, or any other post, or idea, or suggestion,or event information,etc. to: JewishSinglesOfNJ/ click on JewishSinglesOfNJ/ and then click on Post or if you are already a member of JewishSinglesOfNJ/ email JewishSinglesOfNJ JewishSinglesOfNJ AT Please let people know your approximate or exact age, what town and county you live in, your gender,what sort of person you are interested in meeting. You may if you wish include a link to your photo.Attachements are stripped out of posts to the group.Please also state that you are Jewish, single and over 21 in your post. To post your introduction, or any other post, or idea, or suggestion,or event information,etc. to: JewishSinglesFromEverywhere/ click on JewishSinglesFromEverywhere/ and then click on Post or if you are already a member of JewishSinglesFromEverywhere/ email JewishSinglesFromEverywhere JewishSinglesFromEverywhere AT Please let people know your approximate or exact age, what town and county you live in, your gender,what sort of person you are interested in meeting. You may if you wish include a link to your photo.Attachements are stripped out of posts to the group.Please also state that you are Jewish, single and over 21 in your post. The Jewish Singles Events immediately below are from the website of The Jewish Standard http://www.jstandard.com/categories/Singles/ thursday [nov. 8] Hot topics The JCC in Manhattan hosts a discussion group, " 39+ Hot Topics " for singles, 39+, 7 p.m. Free. Also Dec. 13. (646) 505-5708 or visit www.jccmanhattan.org sunday [nov. 11] Scavenger hunt in museum Jewish singles, 20s-30s, meet for a scavenger hunt with young professionals at Manhattan's Jewish Museum, 1 p.m. $30, includes refreshments. www.92Y.org or (212) 415- 5500. http://www.jstandard.com/categories/Singles/ items directly above are from url directly above Directions to the JCC (Jewish Community Center) on the Palisades 411 East Clinton Avenue Tenafly, NJ 07670 201 569 7900 these directions were found at: http://www.jcconthepalisades.org/template.phpsection=AD FROM GARDEN STATE PARKWAY NORTH Exit 161 to Route 4 East. Continue directions from Route 4. FROM GARDEN STATE PARKWAY SOUTH Exit 163 to Route 17 South to Route 4 East. FROM NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE Exit 18 to Route 46 East to Grand Avenue. Proceed North past Route 4 and continue as described below (from Route 4). FROM I-80 EAST To Garden State Parkway North to Exit 161 and then to Route 4 East. FROM ROUTE 4 Exit at Grand Avenue/Englewood. Follow Grand Avenue North about 1 mile, where it becomes Engle Street. Continue on Engle Street past Englewood Hospital. 2nd Traffic light past hospital make right onto E. Clinton Avenue. JCC is approximately 1 mile on left. FROM NEW YORK CITY & LONG ISLAND Go over George Washington Bridge to Palisades Parkway North. Get off at Exit 1, Englewood Cliffs & Palisades Avenue. Make right and go to 1st light. At light make a right onto Route 9W No. At 4th light make a left onto E. Clinton Avenue. JCC is mile on right. FROM SOUTH OR WEST Take New Jersey Turnpike (95) No. or Route 80 East to Broad Ave. Exit. Bear right onto Broad Ave. toward Englewood. Broad Ave. will become Dana Place. Take Dana Place to end. Make right onto E. Palisades Ave. At 3rd block (on left) make left onto No. Woodland Street to end. Make right onto E. Clinton Avenue. JCC immediately on left. FROM NORTH Take Palisades Parkway South and get off at Exit 2. Make left off ramp onto Route 9W South. At 3rd light make right onto E. Clinton Avenue. JCC is mile on right. FROM TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE To Exit 13 So. (Palisades Parkway So.) to Exit 2. Proceed as above from North. FROM CONNECTICUT (Stamford) Route I 95 So. to 287 West to Tappan Zee Bridge. Proceed as above. http://www.jcconthepalisades.org/articlenav.php?id=294 items directly below from url directly above Singles 40-59 Singles Schmooze Sundays, November 18 & December 16 • 6 pm Led by Jeff and Elaine Spend a casual evening getting to know other singles through discussions on various topics determined by the participants. $4 JCC members, $6 Nonmembers WINE TASTING AND ALL THAT JAZZ Saturday, November 17, 8 pm Celebrate Israel at 60 with a sampling of upscale Israeli wines. Wine experts from Queen Anne Wine and Spirit Emporium will guide you through a selection of quality wines and discuss Israel's excellent vineyards. Enjoy cheese and crackers while listening to the soft sounds of Rafi Malkiel and his band, an outstanding Israeli Jazz group. Dessert reception to follow. $23 JCC members, $26 general admission before 11/12 $30 after Co-sponsored with Israeli Connection Department and the Bergen County YJCC. For more information contact: Esther Mazor, Singles Director x460 emazor http://www.jcconthepalisades.org/articlenav.php?id=294 items directly above from url directly above item directly below from url directly below http://www.jcconthepalisades.org/articlenav.php?id=295 Singles 50+ Walk with Liz at Bear Mountain in Harriman State Park Sunday, November 11, 9:30am Meet at the JCC by 9:30 am for carpooling ($5 carpool fee) Or meet at the Carousal at 10:15am at the large parking lot near the Bear Mountain Inn. Enjoy a casual walk around Hession Lake and then cross over to the Zoo and Fort Clinton. Lunch after in Nyack (optional) at your expense. Cancelled in case of rain Parking may be $6 per car $1 per person entrance to Zoo Directions: Palisades Parkway to Exit 19. Follow signs to Trailside Museum/Zoo. For more information contact: Esther Mazor, Singles Director x460 emazor item directly above from url directly below http://www.jcconthepalisades.org/articlenav.php?id=295 items directly below from url directly below http://www.jcconthepalisades.org/articlenav.php?id=555 FRIDAY NIGHT JEWISH SINGLES SERVICES AND ONEG IN FORT LEE Friday, November 16, 8 pm, Free Takes Place at Congregation Gesher Shalom (1449 Anderson Ave, Fort Lee). Join other singles for " Shabbat Yachad " a musical Shabbategalitarian service. This will be followed by an Oneg Shabbat. For further information call 201.947.1735 ext. 12. CHANUKAH CELEBRATION AND FORMERLY MARRIED TO NON-JEWS FMNJ-A PLAYREADING Monday, December 10, 7:30 pm Enjoy latkes and lighting candles and then enjoy this serio-comic play about Jewish Intermarriage written by Theodore D. Kemper. Cosponsored with the Department of Performing Arts $10/$12 by 12/7, $15 after RELATIONSHIP REVELATIONS AND CHINESE LUNCH Tuesday, December 25, 12 pm Enjoy a delicious lunch following a fascinating presentation. Reservations required. $18 by 12/24, $23 after NOT FOR SINGLES ONLY FUNDAMENTALS OF INVESTING, AN OVERVIEW Anthony Gray Tuesdays, November 13 & 20, 1-2:30 pm The course offers a thorough and impartial discussion of all the most popular investments - stocks, bonds, mutual funds, limited partnerships, hedge funds, etc. We will discuss the pros and cons of each type of investment, with no sales pitches. The goal is analysis and understanding, not advocacy, aiming to help you become a well informed investor. $20 JCC members & seniors, $30 general admission For more information contact: Esther Mazor, Singles Director x460 emazor items directly above from url directly below http://www.jcconthepalisades.org/articlenav.php?id=555 for details on the events listed immediately below please click on http://www.kehillaton.com/ Today (Sat, 27 Oct) 7:30 PM Event - Sporting/Games Event: New Jersey Devils [Teaneck, NJ] 9:00 PM Event - Concert: Carlebach Yahrzeit Concert - Great Line-up [New York - Manhattan, NY] Tomorrow (Sun, 28 Oct) 10:00 AM Event - Sale/Garage or Yard Sale: garage sale [Teaneck, NJ] 1:00 PM Lecture - Jewish History: Jewish Resistance Reconsidered [New York - Manhattan, NY] 2:00 PM Event - Concert: Pinkalicious: The Musical [Englewood, NJ] 4:00 PM Event - Classes/Seminar/Workshop: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin [New York - The Bronx, NY] 7:00 PM Event - Concert: Neshama Carlebach pays tribute to her Father [New York - Manhattan, NY] Mon, 29 Oct 7:30 PM Event - Young Adults Event: Scotch and Food Pairing with John Glaser from Comp [New York - Manhattan, NY] Tue, 30 Oct 8:15 AM Lecture - Chassidut: Rabbi Chaim Kramer, of Breslov visits NYC ! [New York - Manhattan, NY] 7:00 PM Lecture - Jewish History: The Dreyfus Affair: A Democratic Legacy [New York - Manhattan, NY] Find more: [events] and [lectures] for details on the events listed immediately above please click on http://www.kehillaton.com/ Livnot Winter 30somethings trip December 24th 2007-Jan 2nd 2008 For participants aged 27 early 40s Chevre, If you're thinking past Succot towards the winter....Livnot Winter 30somethings trip December 24th 2007-Jan 2nd 2008 is an opportunity to NOT BE MISSED. --Explore your community, your spirituality, your Jewish identity all while exploring Israel and its people.. --Meet new friends, volunteer, hike, tour, and learn together Whether it's your first time in Israel , or you are a return visitor, you'll enjoy experiencing famous sites and off the beaten track destinations with the Livnot 30somethings trip.. Space is limited. For information or applications: http://www.livnot. com/pages/ 30Somethings/ please click on http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/208820/6532b4f540/132923/d6b4250a1 d/ for information on the Solidarity Rally for Captured Israeli Soldiers which will be this Tuesday October 30th, 2007 at noon 2nd Avenue and 47th Street Manhattan, New York City, New York, rain or shine Subways 4, 5, 6, or 7 to Grand Central sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council 70 West 36th Street, Suite 700 New York, New York 10018 http://www.jcrcny.org/ Click to view this email in a browser For More Information Contact: USD USD AT hagshama.org.il the Solidarity Rally for Captured Israeli Soldiers which will be this Tuesday October 30th, 2007 at noon 2nd Avenue and 47th Street Manhattan, New York City, New York, rain or shine is sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council 70 West 36th Street, Suite 700 New York, New York 10018 http://www.jcrcny.org/ NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_ FICTION_FANS Wants you! Our Science Fiction group is for everyone 21 or older regardless of background or marital status. Younger fans should find another group. Please introduce yourself when you join and periodically as new members keep joining. We plan to get together at restaurants and to go to movies. We will see them in movie theaters, and, if people are kind enough, on people's home VCRs, or DVD players, for the technologically advanced among us. Buy your own movie tickets. Buy your own meals at Restaurants. Hopefully a typical event would involve going to a Science Fiction Movie and then to a Restaurant to discuss the movie we just saw. Please also join the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County, New Jersey http://www.sfabc. org and attend their many wonderful events. Are you a single Science Fiction fan looking for a soulmate? Perhaps you will find that person here. This club is not a New Jersey singles group per se, and is open to anyone over 21, regardless of background or marital status, nonetheless, love is a good thing. Many science fiction fans in New Jersey also happen to be Jewish. Most science fiction fans are male. For the single Jewish woman in New Jersey joining a science fiction group may be the ideal way to find her ideal man. Unlike most singles events, which tend to be attended by more women than men, most science fiction events are attended by more men than women. If you happen to be Jewish, Single and over 21 Please state that you are Jewish, Single, 21 or over, when you apply to join the Jewish Singles at the websites the urls below will take you to JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael/ JewishSinglesFromEverywhere/ JewishSinglesOfNJ/ We also hope that you will join NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_ FICTION_FANS Please forward this sign up information to everyone who should get it. NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_FICTION_FANS- Subscribe: NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_FICTION_FANS- NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_FICTION_FANS/ There is no charge to join NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_ FICTION_FANS Please forward this sign up information to everyone who should get it. or to belong to NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_FICTION_FANS/ Please forward this sign up information to everyone who should get it. NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_FICTION_FANS- NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_FICTION_FANS/ or to attend any of its events. If you go to a restaurant you pay only for the food that you order plus tax and tip. You never pay NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_ FICTION_FANS Please forward this sign up information to everyone who should get it. NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_FICTION_FANS/ NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_FICTION_FANS- anything for any of its events. NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_ FICTION_FANS Please forward this sign up information to everyone who should get it. NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_FICTION_FANS- NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_FICTION_FANS/ Wants you! Our Science Fiction group is for everyone 21 or older regardless of background or marital status. Younger fans should find another group. Please introduce yourself when you join and periodically as new members keep joining. We plan to get together at restaurants and to go to movies. We will see them in movie theaters,and, if people are kind enough, on people's home VCRs, or DVD players, for the technologically advanced among us. Buy your own movie tickets. Buy your own meals at Restaurants. Hopefully a typical event would involve going to a Science Fiction Movie and then to a Restaurant to discuss the movie we just saw. Are you a single Science Fiction fan looking for a soulmate? Perhaps you will find that person here. This club is not a New Jersey singles group per se, and is open to anyone over 21, regardless of background or marital status, nonetheless, love is a good thing. In the parts of New Jersey where the science fiction clubs we know of operate there is also a very high percentage of Jewish residents. Many science fiction fans and science fiction writers and even science fiction stars, like Leonard Nimoy, (Mr. Spock), of Star Trek, and William Shatner (Captain Kirk), of Star Trek, also happen to be Jewish. Most science fiction fans I know are single men, and many of them, at least in places like New Jersey, are Jewish. Many science fiction fans in New Jersey also happen to be Jewish. Most science fiction fans are male. For the single Jewish woman in New Jersey joining a science fiction group may be the ideal way to find her ideal man. Unlike most singles events, which tend to be attended by more women than men,most science fiction events are attended by more men than women. If you happen to be Jewish, Single and over 21 Please state that you are Jewish, Single, 21 or over, when you apply to join the Jewish Singles at the websites the urls below will take you to JewishSinglesFromEverywhere/ JewishSinglesOfNJ/ JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael/ One of the biggest complaints heard from many women who attend some singles events is that there are far more women than men in attendance. One of the biggest complaints heard from many men who attend most science fiction events is that there are far more men in attendance than women. Most science fiction fans are male. Many science fiction fans in places like New Jersey are also Jewish. There are science fiction clubs in many places. In New Jersey many science fiction club attendees are single Jewish men. The SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATON OF BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY http://www.sfabc.org is open to everyone regardless of marital status or background and is absolutely NOT a singles group nonetheless many single Jewish men attend its many functions. It has existed since 1984 c.e. and was founded by its director, Phil. The club holds a monthly meeting on the Second Saturday night of each month. Phil, is the founder and director of http://www.sfabc.org 201 447-3652 The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County, New Jersey please contact Phil regarding UPCOMING SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION OF BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY EVENTS THE SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION OF BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY http://www.sfabc.org was founded in 1984 by Phil who still is the Director. They have been having monthly meetings on the second Saturday of each month ,usually in the evening, since about 1984. http://www.sfabc.org not affiliated with NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_ FICTION_FANS but highly recommended by NEW_JERSEY_SCIENCE_ FICTION_FANS CALL PHIL AT 201 447-3652 FOR DETAILS http://www.sfabc. org contact Phil at SFABCPhil (AT) gmail (DOT) com SFABCPhil (AT) gmail (DOT) com SFABCPhil AT gmail.com please contact Phil, who is the founder and director of the SFABC, the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County, New Jersey, at 201 447-3652 regarding the monthly SFABC meetings and the other SFABC events. the item immediately below is from: http://www.zoa.org/2007/10/zoa_opposes_us_2.htm ZOA Opposes U.S. Proposal To Give $400 Million In Aid To Abbas' PA October 26, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Morton A. Klein, 212-481-1500 JPost: AIPAC, Peace Now, Israel Policy Forum, Arab-American Institute support U.S. aid to PA New York — A major increase to a total of approximately $400 million in American funding for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, has been proposed by the Bush Administration. The Jerusalem Post has reported that this proposal has received support from the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), as well as Americans for Peace Now, the Israel Policy Forum and the Arab-American Institute. When questioned about the new aid request, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice replied that the Bush Administration was " seeking funds to support the government of Salaam Fayyad and Mahmoud Abbas because we believe that this [represents] the best chance for moderate Palestinian government " ( Jerusalem Post, October 25, 2007). The ZOA strongly opposes this aid to the PA and is on Capitol Hill making this clear to lawmakers. The ZOA firmly believes that trying to induce moderation from the PA by rewarding it, instead of demanding the implementation of agreements and reforms before offering any rewards and concessions, will only reinforce the PA's resistance to moderation and peace-making. Why would Abbas and Fatah fulfill any agreements or make any genuine moves towards peace if they have had it proved to them, time and again over 14 years, that they will receive praise, support and funds from America without fulfilling a single one of their obligations under signed agreements ? The ZOA will be urging the Bush Administration to make this funding contingent on Abbas and the PA fulfilling all of their commitments that they made with the Oslo I, Oslo II, Hebron, Wye and Roadmap agreements. The PA should not receive an additional penny until this is done, otherwise, a clear message is sent that we in the U.S. are not truly serious about the PA fulfilling signed commitments to fight terror and end incitement. " The PA remains a terror-supporting entity that has not fulfilled its 14 year old obligations to jail terrorists and confiscate illegal weaponry and end the incitement to hatred and murder in the PA- controlled media, mosques, schools and youth camps that feeds terrorism and fosters a culture of suicide terrorism and `martyrdom.' Abbas himself has failed to condemn terrorism against Israel but has on the contrary praised terrorists; and the Fatah Constitution to this day calls for the " demolition " of Israel (Article 12); the use of terrorism as an indispensable part in the strategy to obtain that goal (Article 19); condemns Zionism as racist (Article 7); calls on countries to prevent Jews from moving to Israel (Article 25); and opposes any political solution whatsoever (Article 22). Since September 2000, Fatah has been responsible for as many murders of Israelis as Hamas: the terror groups having murdered nearly 500 Israelis each since that date in scores of suicide bombings, hundreds of roadside bombs, and thousands of shootings. Mahmoud Abbas in his own words: On recognizing Israel: " It is not required of Hamas, or of Fatah, or of the Popular Front to recognize Israel " (Al-Arabiya [Dubai] and PA TV, October 3, 2006). Fighting Israel: " We have a legitimate right to direct our guns against Israeli occupation ... Our rifles, all our rifles are aimed at The Occupation " ( Jerusalem Post, January 11, 2007; Independent Media & Review Analysis, January 12, 2007). On Jews: " The sons of Israel are corrupting humanity on earth " (World Net Daily, January 11, 2007). On Israel: " the Zionist enemy " (Associated Press, January 4, 2005; CNN.com, January 7, 2005). On suicide bombers: " Allah loves the martyr " (Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2005). On wanted Palestinian terrorists: " heroes fighting for freedom " (Age [Melbourne], January 3, 2005); " Israel calls them murderers, we call them strugglers " ( Jerusalem Post, December 25, 2004). On Palestinian terrorist leaders Yasser Arafat, Hamas' Ahmad Yasin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi and Palestinian Islamic Jihad's Fathi Shikaki: " martyrs " (Palestinian Media Center , September 9, 2005) On Hamas: " We must unite the Hamas and Fatah blood in the struggle against Israel as we did at the beginning of the intifada. We want a political partnership with Hamas " ( Jerusalem Post, February 5, 2007). On Yasser Arafat: " It is our duty to implement the principles of Yasser Arafat " ( Haaretz, January 3, 2005); " We will continue in the path of the late president until we fulfill all his dreams " (Agence France-Presse, November 11, 2005); " The Palestinian leadership won't stray from Arafat's path " (Yediot Ahronot, November 11, 2006) On disarming Palestinian terrorists: a " red line " that must not be crossed (Washington Times, January 3, 2005) On jailed Palestinian terrorists: " our heroes. " (Israel National News, May 26, 2006). On the so-called `right of return' of Palestinian refugees and their millions of descendants which, if implemented would end Israel as a Jewish state: " The issue of the refugees is non-negotiable " ( Jerusalem Post, January 11, 2007). On the Lebanese terrorist group Hizballah: A source of pride and sets an example for the " Arab resistance " (Jerusalem Post, August 6, 2006). Saddam Hussein: " Saddam Hussein has entered history as a symbol of Pan-Arab nationalism " (Independent Media Review and Analysis , December 31, 2006). Mahmoud Abbas' acts: Holocaust denial: He wrote a PhD thesis and published a book denying the Holocaust. Terrorist group Fatah: He co-founded with arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat the terrorist group Fatah, whose Constitution to this day calls for the destruction of Israel (Article 12) and the use of terrorism against Israelis as an indispensable part of the struggle to achieve that goal (Article 19). Funding terrorism: as senior PLO official, he funded the Munich massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes in 1972. Terror & incitement to violence: He has refused to implement the signed Oslo agreements and the 2003 Roadmap peace plan which requires him to fight, arrest, extradite and jail terrorists and confiscate their weaponry and end the incitement to hatred and murder in the PA-controlled media, mosques, schools and youth camps that feeds it. Terrorists' plan for more violence: In May 2006, he endorsed the so- called `Prisoners' Plan', a document produced by jailed Palestinian terrorists, that endorses continued terrorism against Israel, legitimizes the murder of Jews, does not accept Israel's existence as a Jewish state, abrogates Palestinian obligations under the signed Oslo agreements and the 2003 Roadmap peace plan, and insists on the `right of return.' Money for suicide bombers' families: In December 2005, he approved legislation mandating financial benefits to be paid to families of killed Palestinian terrorists. * * * The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti- Israel bias in the media and on college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver. the item immediately above was from: http://www.zoa.org/2007/10/zoa_opposes_us_2.htm Zionist Organization of America 4 East 34th St. New York, NY 10016 ZOA Chapters Atlanta, GA Baltimore, MD Bethesda, MD Mitchell Finkel, Vice President bethesda Boca Raton, FL Boston, MA Henry Silverman, President 70 Park Street, Suite 25 Brookline, MA 02446 Brooklyn, NY Rubin Margules, President Phone: 718-339-8379 Fax: 718-339-8610 www.zoabrooklyn.org brooklyn Cherry Hill, NJ Chicago, IL Cleveland, OH Cleveland ZOA 3246 DeSota Ave Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118 Phone: 216-320-0726 Fax: 216-320-0793 cleveland Dallas, TX Dayton, OH Detroit, MI Dr. Jerome S. Kaufman ZOA National Secretary michigan Current Newsletter Hartford, CT Long Island, NY Dr. Alan Mazurek, President Los Angeles / Western Region Ed Ames, President 18455 Burbank Blvd., Suite 300 Tarzana, CA 91356 Phone: 818.342.3363 Fax: 818.342.3115 zoawest Manhattan, NY Mr. Marvin Belsky manhattan Milwaukee, WI New Haven, CT Ron Scherban New Jersey (Northern) Palm Beach, FL Philadelphia, PA Lori Lowenthal Marcus, President Steve Feldman, Executive 7923 Bustleton Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19152 Phone: 215-338-9188 Fax: 215-338-9189 philadelphia www.zoaphilly.org Phoenix, AZ Pittsburgh, PA Deborah Fidel, Esq., President 6334 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Phone: 412-421-6660 Fax: 412-421-6669 pittsburgh Rochester, NY Dr. Leon Szmedra, President rochesterny San Diego, CA Howard L. Dyckman, President sandiego San Francisco, CA Silver Spring, MD Mitchell Finkel, Vice President silverspring Youngstown, OH Washington, DC Westchester, NY http://www.zoa.org/chapters.htm We urge everyone who can to join an existing ZOA chapter and if one is not located nearby to contact the ZOA about starting a new ZOA chapter. http://www.zoa.org/contact.htm The Zionist Organization of America 4 East 34th Street New York, NY 10016 Telephone: 212-481-1500 Fax: 212-481-1515 General Information info Membership membership info AT zoa.org membership AT zoa.org Item immediately below is from http://womeningreen.org/ Posted on 25-10-2007 THE BATTLE FOR JERUSALEM - IS IT ALREADY TOO LATE? Filed Under (Ruth Matar's letters from Jerusalem) by admin Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem Thursday, October 25, 2007 Dear Friends, On Tuesday, October 23rd, two days ago, Women in Green held a demonstration at Paris Square in Jerusalem, very close to Ehud Olmert's residence. We held posters and handed out bumper stickers saying: " Olmert is Dangerous for the Jews " , " the Land of Israel Belongs to the People of Israel " , " Jerusalem is not for Sale " , " No to a Palestinian State " , etc. An elderly gentleman came up to me and said: " I admire you for holding this demo, but I can tell you that, unfortunately, it is not of any use what the World is planning in Annapolis is nothing short of gang rape of Israel. It is already much too late. " I agree with this elderly gentleman that the present situation is most dangerous for Israel. Our Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, is indeed a threat to the very survival of the Jewish State. Every day we read about Olmert's latest concessions to Abbas with regard to Jerusalem, albeit unconfirmed: 1. Dividing Jerusalem into two parts, Jewish and Arab. 2. Handing over complete control over the Temple Mount to the Muslims. These rumors may be " unconfirmed " , yet many Members of Knesset seem to take them very seriously. More than half of the Knesset members, from both the Opposition and Coalition factions, have already signed a petition against plans to hand over parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority, including giving the Muslims complete control over the Temple Mount. The Knesset Members are justified in their fear. The Prime Minister asserted earlier this month that he DOES NOT NEED KNESSET APPROVAL TO REACH A JOINT DECLARATION WITH PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CHAIRMAN MAHMOUD ABBAS. Olmert's insistence that there is a natural division between Arab and Jewish Jerusalem is complete fiction. For many years, Arabs immigrating into Palestine tried to violently drive the Jews out of their homes in the holy city of Jerusalem. The first large Arab riots took place in Jerusalem in the intermediary days of Passover, April 1920. Six Jews were killed and some 200 injured in the course of these riots. Such unrest and violence continued in Jerusalem for years, resulting in Arabs taking possession of many Jewish homes. When you next come to Jerusalem, I suggest that you take a guided tour with the " Ateret Cohanim " organization. You will see proof of original Jewish ownership on the doorposts of what are now Arab occupied homes in the so-called " Muslim Quarter " . You can clearly observe a hollow niche where a Jewish Mezuzah was once placed! Why did Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently allow Arab bulldozers and other heavy equipment to be used to dig a massive trench on the Temple Mount? The Islamic Waqf custodians claimed the work was necessary to replace electrical cables. Is Prime Minister Olmert really gullible enough to believe this? In an article by Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily, posted October 22, 2007 he says that prominent Temple Mount archeologists accused Olmert of attempting to cover up the alleged failure to properly supervise a dig in which Islamic authorities were accused of deliberately destroying Temple Mount antiquities. Palestinian and Muslim leaders have always routinely denied well- documented Jewish ties to the Temple Mount. Using heavy equipment in order to supposedly replace electrical cables was clearly an attempt to destroy the evidence of the two Jewish Temples! Why did Olmert not allow the Israeli Antiquities Authority to supervise this dig? Did he not realize that the Arabs were deliberately destroying the evidence that ties the Jews to the Temple Mount? The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism! We must understand the significance of the Temple Mount to the Jews, and thus the dangers of handing over complete control over it to the Arabs. The following is a short historical background on the Temple Mount: Jewish tradition, from its very beginnings, has seen the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as the very center of the universe, the focal point of G-d's connection to the Jewish people and all of mankind. The Torah relates in Genesis that the near-sacrifice of Isaac took place atop Mount Moriah, which was identified with the Mountain of G- d, the Mountain of pilgrimage that is the Temple Mount. After King David founded Jerusalem as the capital of the kingdom of Israel, he purchased land with a granary from a Jebusite named Aravna; David's son Solomon built a magnificent Temple there that stood for 400 years. Solomon's Temple was designed and built as a permanent shrine on a grand scale, which would replace the Tabernacle that had served the Israelites in the desert, and in various temporary locations within the Promised Land. Although destroyed by the Babylonians in their conquest of Judea, the Temple was rebuilt by the returning exiles, and served as the center of Jewish spiritual and material life for the next 600 years. In the reign of Herod the Great, near the beginning of the Common Era, the Temple was completely refurbished, while the Temple Mount almost doubled in size all in order to accommodate millions of pilgrims, Jews and non-Jews from all over the known world. Almost 2000 years have passed since the Romans destroyed the Second Temple; yet committed Jews throughout the centuries, in all the lands of their exile, have prayed in the direction of their ruined Temple. To this day, Jews focus their hopes, dreams and prayers on the speedy rebuilding of the Temple, as the central condition for national and cosmic redemption. According to the Hebrew poet Uri Zvi Greenberg (1896-1981), " whoever controls the Temple Mount controls the entire land of Israel! " This is as true today as when Uri Zvi Greenberg originally wrote these lines. It is imperative that we stop Ehud Olmert from treating our beloved Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land as his private real estate! It is imperative that we make Olmert understand that he cannot barter away Jerusalem and the rest of our Homeland to Chairman Mahmoud Abbas without even Knesset approval! Going back to the elderly gentleman at the demo two days ago, I agree with him that the Annapolis Conference might well turn into a gang rape of Israel. However, it is not too late! We must all work together to prevent a great tragedy! IN ISRAEL, we must, at all costs, work on removing Olmert from the seat of power, so that he cannot treat Israel as his private real estate. IN THE UNITED STATES, you, dear friends, must convince President Bush that no part of Israel is for sale! IT IS NOT TOO LATE! With Blessings and Love for Israel, Ruth Matar Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green) POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380 wfit2 wfit2 at womeningreen.org http://www.womeningreen.org To to the Women in Green list, please send a blank email message to: list4- list4- AT womeningreen.org Item immediately below is from CAMERA Please forward this announcement to people who are committed to fair and factual reporting about Israel and the Middle East. Shalom CAMERA E-Mail Team: CAMERA is pleased to announce the official launch of " Eyes on Israel, " our new curriculum for middle school and high school students on the media's coverage of the Middle East. This follows the well-received piloting of the material last spring in middle schools and high schools across the country. Cover of " Eyes on Israel " Curriculum " Eyes on Israel " is a multi-part, modular curriculum that seeks to help students practice analytical thinking and develop a critical eye regarding what they read, see and hear about Israel in the media. Over the years, educators and other community leaders have contacted CAMERA with requests for curricular materials to help deal with media portrayals of Israel and the Middle East; " Eyes on Israel " is CAMERA's response to that need. Praise from the schools that recently tested it was uniformly positive. One teacher, who used it in 9th and 10th grade classes in a Michigan day school wrote, " I thoroughly enjoyed using the curriculum. The information was clearly presented and readily understood… My principal dropped in for a surprise visit on the day that I did the unit on the Security Fence… She was delighted to see the students exercising critical thinking skills and evaluating the various sources that were quoted. " The principal of a congregational middle school in suburban Chicago wrote: " [We] were extremely pleased with the material. The students received so much from the program! " Still another congregational 7th-8th grade teacher from Tucson, AZ remarked, " Curriculum is excellent. Content very thorough and applicable. Very user friendly. " In August, CAMERA promoted " Eyes on Israel " at the 2007 CAJE (Conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education) conference in St. Louis. Once again, the response was enthusiastic. Educators from all across the country, as well as from Canada, Argentina and Turkey, requested copies. While middle and high school teachers were most represented, youth group personnel and college instructors were also interested in receiving the curriculum. " Eyes on Israel " consists of four modules, suitable for use in a day- school, community high school or congregational school setting, regardless of denomination. The four sections are: 1) Journalism and its Responsibilities : An introduction to the core issue of this curriculum, this module touches on the obligations of journalists in covering complex issues like the Middle East conflict. Students explore journalistic standards and ethics and their relationship to reporting on Israel. 2) U.N. Resolution 242: A Case-Study in Media Coverage: Students examine the key diplomatic component of Arab-Israeli negotiations and how it is rendered in the media 3) What You Can Do: Mindful of journalists' responsibility to follow their professional standards, this module teaches students how to advocate for balanced and accurate coverage of the Middle East. 4) A Brief History of Modern Israel: A concise overview of the history of Israel from the late 19th century to the current day providing basic facts and events concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict. Full of richly illustrated materials, the module also has an extensive appendix of recommended books and videos. CAMERA is distributing the curriculum free of charge . Schools will receive a CD compete with lesson plans, student handouts and teacher's aids in PDF format as well as the multimedia material - radio and television broadcasts, PowerPoint slide shows - referenced in the four modules. Individual schools would then be responsible for printing out the materials they plan on using. ACTION ITEM If you're involved with a school that you think might be interested in using " Eyes on Israel, " or know of someone in such a school, please contact CAMERA's curriculum coordinator, Hillel Zaremba, at hillelz hillelz AT camera.org or by phone at 610-667-4026. He'll be delighted to answer any questions. Thank you! Example of map developed for Module Four: A Brief History of Modern Israel To to CAMERA's E-Mail Team alerts, send a note with your name, address, email, telephone number and how you heard about the alerts to leegreen leegreen AT camera.org learn more about CAMERA by clicking on http://www.camera.org/ You do not have to be single to join : OperationCSPAN/ Post message: OperationCSPAN Subscribe: OperationCSPAN- Help to counter anti-Israel, anti-Semitic callers to CSPAN programs such as Washington Journal, by making your own pro- Israel, pro-Jewish, pro-Zionist, calls to those same CSPAN programs. Please also do your part to help Israel by joining pro-Israel groups both on line and in real life. You can read more about topics and people in the news such as Jimmy Carter and James Baker and Coca Cola etc. by doing searches in the message archives of including those listed below. Some pro-Israel on line groups are listed below: IsraelAndAmericaTogetherForVictory/ Post message: IsraelAndAmericaTogetherForVictory Subscribe: IsraelAndAmericaTogetherForVictory- IsraelMustLive/ Post message: IsraelMustLive Subscribe: IsraelMustLive- IsraelNowAndForever / Post message: IsraelNowAndForever Subscribe: IsraelNowAndForever- IsraelTheBestFriendAmericaHas/ Post message: IsraelTheBestFriendAmericaHas Subscribe: IsraelTheBestFriendAmericaHas- OperationCSPAN/ Post message: OperationCSPAN Subscribe: OperationCSPAN- c-span, also known as C-SPAN provides much valuable information. However, we are distressed that programs like Washington Journal on c-span seem to provide a forum for anti-Semites and enemies of Israel and the Jewish people in general who seem to not only call into that t.v. show, but get through, and get on the air, where they are seldom interupted or cut off by the show's moderators. We feel that a 2 minute delay could enable the show's moderators to screen out the anti-Semites and enemies of Israel and the Jewish people, however no such 2 minute delay seems to be in place. Moreover the moderators of that show and others do not seem to be of a mind to cut off the anti- Semites and other enemies of Israel and the Jewish people in general who regularly call into that show and others on c-span. We have therefore created this in the hopes that members of the group will become regular viewers of c-span and will call in regularly to Washington Journal and other c-span call in t.v. shows, to support Israel and the Jewish people and to counter the anti-Semites and other enemies of Israel and the Jewish people whose calls are regularly aired on c-span. We also hope that members of our will contact their U.S. Senators and members of Congress and President Bush at http://www.whitehouse.gov to see what can be done about the situation at c-span. PeopleForIsrael/ Post message: PeopleForIsrael Subscribe: PeopleForIsrael- PeopleWhoSupportIsrael/ Post message: PeopleWhoSupportIsrael Subscribe: PeopleWhoSupportIsrael- WeAreForIsrael/ Post message: WeAreForIsrael Subscribe: WeAreForIsrael- WeStandUpForIsrael/ Post message: WeStandUpForIsrael Subscribe: WeStandUpForIsrael- AmericansForIsrael/ Post message: AmericansForIsrael Subscribe: AmericansForIsrael- If you know of other pro-Israel on line groups and/or pro-Israel groups that meet in real life please post the information about them. There are many avenues for Jewish activism. Support of Israel, Support of the Jewish people, Opposition to anti-Semitism, to name a few. We believe that it is vital for Jewish survival that single Jews meet other single Jews, marry one another, and raise their children as Jews. Because there is a hole in our calendar from Friday night to Saturday night during which many single Jews go to non-Jewish singles events, meet non-Jews, marry non-Jews, and have children from those marriages who are not raised as Jews, the Jewish people faces a very severe problem. We urge everyone who reads this to contact his or her Rabbi and demand that his or her Rabbi hold regular Jewish singles Onegs on Friday nights. We feel that it is vitally important that single Jews go to Jewish singles events and meet other Jewish singles at those events. If you know anyone who happens to be Jewish who is hosting a singles event please ask him or her to consider hosting events just for Jewish singles. We also offer the opportunity at our on line Jewish singles groups to post your Jewish singles introductions and to respond to other Jewish singles introductions. Please do so regularly. Please state that you are Jewish, single and over 21 in your introductions at our on line Jewish singles groups. Please state that you are Jewish, Single, 21 or over, when you apply to join the Jewish Singles at the websites the urls below will take you to JewishSinglesOfNJ/ JewishSinglesinNJforIsrael/ JewishSinglesFromEverywhere/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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